Liverpool Art Prize organisers are honoured to announce that the 2013 Liverpool Art Prize ‘People’s Choice Award’ will be presented in fond memory of the Liverpool born artist, Joe Bampton. The Award, whose winner is announced at 18.00 on Wednesday 29 May is presented alongside the main award for Liverpool Art Prize 2013.

Joe, who in recent years lived in London, was an accomplished artist, attending Slade School of Fine Art and exhibiting in London, Paris and Berlin. Joe was tragically killed in February of this year in a hot air balloon disaster at Luxor, Egypt and Joe’s partner Zsi also died in the incident.

Joe regularly returned to Liverpool to catch up with friends and spend time with his Mum, Maureen who is known to many lovers of art in Liverpool where she owns the Bluecoat Display Centre. Maureen has donated £1000 to the development of Liverpool Art Prize in Joe’s memory as he was keen to support the progress of Liverpool artists.

The Liverpool Art Prize is a competition of contemporary art, which was inspired by the Turner Prize coming to Liverpool during the Capital of Culture year in 2008. It is open to all professional artists based or born in Liverpool City Region, including the surrounding boroughs of Liverpool, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley, Halton and Sefton. This year, the exhibition is being held at The Grand Hall, Albert Dock, L3 4AA and is open Tues-Sat 11.00 – 17.00..

Previous Liverpool Art Prize winners are Robyn Woolston, Imogen Stidworthy, AL and AL, David Jacques and Marcus Soukup who exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery as part of his prize in 2012. The previous People’s Choice winners are James Quin, Brendan Lyons, The Singh Twins and Elizabeth Willow, who have also gone on to achieve great respect within the industry. Robyn Woolston, last year’s winner, is currently presenting her exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of events and exhibitions happening in and around the city centre programmed by a consortium of the city’s studio groups and independent arts organisations for Liverpool Art Month. This year’s highlights include the Arena Art Auction, ‘The Drifter’s Escape’ exhibition at the Bridewell featuring work inspired by the music of Bob Dylan, and the Lowe Photo Booth project at Matt Ford Studio for Light Night, amongst many other exciting events involving local artists throughout the month of May.